An even smaller, cheaper DJI Drone

You may remember that I posted about the DJI Mavic back in October of last year, when it was announced, and that I was excited about both it and the GoPro Karma, which I classified as the contenders for my money. While that assessment was correct, I ended up not buying either. I could simply not justify the cost, and the bulk of the Karma – which was the one I was leaning towards – ultimately made me decide against it, though it seemed to me (and still does) to be the more capable of the two.

Instead, I opted for a different stabiliser for a handheld camera – specifically the Flowmotion One – eschewing drones altogether. To that package I added an extension pole and a GoPro-mount, meaning that I could use it for a GoPro should I so choose, in addition to using it for my phone. I had since quite happily ignored any drone-related news, until I saw that Casey Neistat had posted a side-by-side comparison video of the Mavic and DJIs upcoming offering, the Spark:

The Spark is being launched at half the price of the Mavic, and is small enough to fit in a coat pocket. It is, however, less capable, having only a two-axis gimbal, and only being capable of 1080p video. To someone like Casey Neistat, whose vlogs are published in 4k resolution, that latter point would likely be a show-stopper. To someone like me however, who cares not one bit about resolution beyond 1080p, that tradeoff might just be worth it. Time will tell, but I think DJI may just have done it again.